CoinDesk carried a piece yesterday by John Matonis, the executive director of the Bitcoin Foundation and a self-described cryptoeconomist, in which he suggested that “government tainted” bitcoins traded on licensed exchanges will trade at a discount, creating arbitrage gain opportunities for savvy traders. Matonis’ argument goes like this: consumers value privacy, which is why they…
It recently came to my attention that a certain bitcoin accounting startup located in Utah is currently the subject of an administrative inquiry by that state. Among the alleged violations of Utah law is this company’s use of the term “CPA” in its name without having received a license from the state to operate as…
Cryptocurrencies hold great promise for the poor and unbanked, especially in impoverished and developing regions of the world. Whereas many affluent westerners have adopted bitcoin as a political statement, a cost saving measure or a technical curiosity, a small portion of its users have done so as a result of the exigencies of their own…
One of the issues making the rounds in the bitcoin community lately is the concept of escheat, or the transfer of “abandoned” property to the state (Commonwealth countries would use the term “reversion”). Some bitcoin users have asked that wallet providers provide an option to donate your property to a certain person or organization if…
Circle gave the community an inside look at its payment platform this week and it looks like it may have been worth the wait. If you’ve somehow made it without having heard of them yet, Circle could best be described as a bitcoin bank that charges no fees. The company announced itself last fall and…
The Bitcoin Economy gets a little larger each week than the week before. Even though the price seems to be stuck in a funk lately, exciting things are happening out there. This week, just a short time after announcing that the service was under development, Coinbase launched a new service aimed at large account holders…
This is a repost of an article that I originally wrote for Bitcoin Magazine back in February of 2014. Though I suspected that it might be too technical (from an accounting perspective) for most readers to appreciate at the time, I ended up receiving more feedback about it than anything else I’ve written. Now that…
Where and when can I get my bitcoin debit card? According to a few exchanges and trading platforms, the answer may be “soon.” A small handful of companies are locked in a tight race to be the first to develop and sell a non-prepaid debit card backed by customer-owned bitcoins. Xapo’s branded debit card appears…
A week has passed since the release of the New York Department of Financial Services’ proposed “bitlicense” rules, causing much weeping and gnashing of teeth among bitcoiners in the US. The rules are unfavorable to start-ups and create the impression that New York is hostile to cryptocurrencies, but they aren’t the Orwellian codex that they…
A client asked me recently what the rules are for deducting bitcoin losses following an exchange failure. Specifically, he wanted to know whether the IRS would accept evidence that he attempted to liquidate his holdings at the exchange in question (a certain high profile Japan-based outfit that shall not be named) as justification to increase…
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